New Delhi. The reason for the growing popularity of T20 matches is that the fans get to see a lot of fours and sixes in it. It is a common complaint that the format is becoming completely dominated by the batsmen, which is justified to a large extent, as the batting friendly pitch and rules in most T20 matches result in bowlers and batsmen taking a lot of beating. ‘Bar’ remains. Time and again it has been said that pitches and rules should be such that they are ‘helpful’ to both batsmen and bowlers alike. Bowler-friendly wickets are a good thing in cricket, but the fate of the batsmen at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York in the T20 World Cup 2024 is completely unacceptable.
This pitch with uneven bounce would be better classified as ‘Dangerous’ rather than ‘Bowler Friendly’ on which batsmen are at serious risk of injury. This happened during Team India’s match against Ireland (India Vs Ireland). Several times during the match, the ball bounced dangerously and hit the batsmen’s helmets, resulting in injuries to several batsmen from both teams. The erratic nature of the pitch was such that some balls flew so high over the batsmen’s heads that the wicketkeeper had to jump to collect them, while many were so low that they reached the keeper after being hit. Former cricketers have questioned the ICC calling this pitch weak.
In important tournaments like the T20 World Cup, this substandard pitch has spoiled the taste of cricket fans. The situation is that till June 5, two matches have been played in New York and none of the teams have crossed the 100-run mark. In the first match of the tournament between Sri Lanka and South Africa in New York, the Sri Lankan team was bowled out for just 77 runs. The quality of the pitch was such that South Africa needed 16.2 overs to reach the target of 78 runs. The top score in both the innings was 20 runs scored by Quinton de Kock.
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Rohit suffered a shoulder injury, Pant suffered a hand injury
The story of Wednesday’s India-Ireland match was no different. Batting first, Ireland were bowled out for 96 runs in 16 overs and with the help of Rohit Sharma’s 52 runs and Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 36 runs, India achieved the target with the loss of two wickets but during this they certainly played a good innings, both were injured due to the pitch. Rohit had to retire when the ball hit Josh Little on the shoulder. Pant was also injured more than once, once due to an elbow injury that required him to seek medical attention.
5 wickets fell in the last over of the T20 WC match, but the bowler could not take the hat-trick.
Both the matches were held on different pitches, though…
Earlier during Ireland’s innings, Ireland batsman Harry Tucker was hit by the ball more than once. Bumrah’s ball on which he was dismissed hit the helmet after hitting the gloves and he returned to the pavilion in pain. All the while the batsmen were seen struggling against the uneven bounce of the pitch. Such a pitch in a major tournament like the World Cup is also raising serious questions for the ICC, which earns huge revenue from cricket. Not that both New York matches were played on the same pitch. The first match was played on pitch no.1 while the India-Ireland match was played on pitch no.4. The low scores and uneven bounce of both matches raise questions about the quality of the pitch. Let us tell you that four main pitches and six drop-in surfaces have been prepared in Florida and brought to New York for the T20 World Cup.
Bitter gourd and neem gram…Outfield too slow
With the New York pitch proving to be a ‘tough ask’ for the batsmen, the slower outfield certainly got the job done. Due to which only 8 fours were hit during the Irish innings and only 7 fours were hit during the Indian innings. Despite the batsman’s powerful shots, the ball slipped slowly to the boundary, often not even reaching the boundary. Bad pitches and slow outfields have caused a ‘double whammy’ for fans’ enjoyment of the game.
Former cricketers expressed their anger about the pitch
Both the matches played in New York as part of the T20 World Cup have so far been disappointing for fans and former cricketers. Many former cricketers/reviewers have described the pitch as embarrassing. Former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote that one has to play on this type of pitch. Earlier in another post, Vaughn described the pitch as ‘shocking’. Former coach Mickey Arthur described the New York pitch as very poor, while cricket expert Paul Newman described the pitch as an embarrassment to the ICC. Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri also appeared surprised by the nature of the pitch during the commentary. Sunny said, ‘Look at the bounce of the pitch, how much the ball is going over the stumps, it will be very difficult to LBW in such a situation.’ Some other commentators also described the wicket as difficult.
Tags: ICC T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma, T20 cricket, T20 World Cup, Team India
First published: June 6, 2024, 13:06 IST